AV News 195 - February 2014
By the end of these presentations I was convinced that AV offered a way forward
for me, affording a whole new dimension to photography with themes limited only
by the imagination of the author. AV enables you to go out and shoot with a
purpose whilst involving you in research and creativity.
This view was very much confirmed in the afternoon session when we were
treated to a whole body of work by one very experienced AV worker. Ron Henry,
had come down to address the meeting from the North East. If I remember
nothing else from the day it will be the impact of Ron's 'horror story' sequence
about being stranded at Heathrow Airport in the snow last winter. This was a
sequence that the Chairman of British Airways should watch if not the Minister for
Aviation if we still have one. Again it got me thinking about the power of AV and
how it can be used to inform, educate and influence.
In conclusion this was a very worthwhile day indeed. I found it refreshing to be
in a photography group meeting which was about feedback and learning as
distinct from assessing and judging albeit the latter no doubt has its place. Since
the meeting I have made a start on my first sequence about the colours of autumn
using the tutorial DVD 'Getting Started in Audio Visual' by Tony Collinson of
Leeds AV group for reference. My grateful thanks go to Tony and everyone else
I saw in Bradford that day for encouraging me down the AV path.
The Speaker's Speaker
Ron Henry
When I first became involved in AV I had to build my own equipment and buy a
large vehicle to carry it around (not to mention dreading venues on the top floor
of buildings). Since then, equipment has become miniaturised but audio speakers
of power and quality still remain comparatively large and heavy.
During last summer, a friend arrived at our barbeque with his iPad and a small
speaker which entertained the whole road all afternoon and I got to thinking that
perhaps something similar might just solve the problem of humping speakers to
venues. I looked at some Bose and Sonas speakers which were displayed on
attractive stands in our local department store but couldn't convince myself that
something of this size would fill a hall dampened by 40 to 50 bodies and at £300
it wasn't worth the risk.
These small speakers attracted me to the audio department of John Lewis like
a magnet and during one visit my
attention was drawn to a promotion
featuring the store's own make (or
badged) Bluetooth bar speaker on a
special promotion price at £24. At this
price it was well worth a try. There was
no specification printed on the
packaging but it worked well in my own
home, this, however, was hardly a
suitable test but at least I hadn't wasted
my money. The speaker set is very
small and came in its own case which
easily fitted into my laptop bag.
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